ANOTHER high tempo performance against Monaco full of passion and lots of fluent passing.

ANOTHER high tempo performance against Monaco last night, full of passion and lots of fluent passing.

One player who impressed me a lot was Xabi Alonso. His range of passing on the night was superb and he seems to be able to pick out a teammate almost instinctively.

The combination of Cisse (right) up front and Garcia in the hole also worked very nicely indeed. Garcia is similar to Bergkamp or Litmanen and was pulling defenders all over the place with his movement. Together with Steven Gerrard he provided quality link balls through to Cisse.

We kept Monaco quiet for the majority of the game and I can't actually remember them having many significant shots on goal.

They look a shadow of the team that got to the Champions League final last season.

IAN McHALE, 27, West Derby

AFTER >a mixed start, the Reds have answered all the questions asked of them this week with convincing home performances against WBA and Monaco.

Any new manager's first ambition is to put solid foundations in place, and Rafa is certainly going about re-establishing 'fortress Anfield' in the right way.

Decisive, crisp passing and a hunger to kill off the opposition is all a far cry from last year's desperate efforts, and how nice it was to see Cisse and Baros net in the week while Owen's new club slumped embarrassingly in Leverkusen.

Next up of course is a trip to Old Trafford, which has been a happy hunting ground for us in recent years, and what sweet irony it would be if Rio Ferdinand's rearranged comeback were to end in a Reds victory!

One concern off the field is the number of empty seats against WBA despite the game being officially 'sold out'.

JIMMY PILNICK, 25, Huyton

TWO> games, two wins and a better system of play with Garcia playing off Cisse.

The Spaniard has added a bit of Bergkamp-esque guile to the team, and looks a bag of tricks and a pest to defenders, even if sometimes against West Brom it was not in the right areas.

It was good to see against the Baggies that Benitez had players playing in their best and most effective positions. Let's not get carried away, but there were more positives than negatives.

Kewell looked marginally better, but even when not playing well is a goal threat. Benitez wants to play his best players, but with Gerrard, Hamann and Alonso all central players he has a problem - one which should be solved by removing one of them rather than playing one on the right of midfield.

Finnan did well but he and Dudek are still the major areas of concern.

MARK BAKER, 20, Huyton

IT >seems that Liverpool have finally sprung into life under Rafael Benitez. Important wins over WBA and Monaco should give us a bit of momentum.

Last season Liverpool came across some packed defences and in many cases struggled to break them down.

But Luis Garcia looks as if he can add that extra dimension that the fans have been searching for.

He sits back behind the strikers and threads balls through, he has also got a keen eye for goal and seems worthy of the number ten shirt at Anfield. Gerrard, as we have seen before, was the irrepressible star of the team.

The midfield is a key area as it is where games are won, and it has certainly developed under Benitez. Liverpool have got to keep this rhythm going, but we cant jump ahead of ourselves as a truer test awaits us against Man United.